A U.S. judge in the state of Virginia on July 17 denied a request to relocate the trial of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman.

Manafort's lawyers sought to move his upcoming trial from Alexandria – which is a politically left-leaning part of the Washington, D.C. area – to Roanoke – which is in the more conservative southern part of the state, RFE/RL reported.

The lawyers argued that extensive pretrial media coverage in Washington has interfered with Manafort's right to a fair trial and the Alexandria jury pool would be drawn from a population that voted heavily in favor of Trump's Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

But U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis said there's no reason Manafort can't get a fair trial in Alexandria.